1/24/2006
This is the fifth part in my Guatemalan series. Click here for parts 1, 2, 3 and 4.
The buildings look as though they've been snacked on by mortar-hungry monsters.
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Wayne is trying to make me a dentist. I may be doing some procedures today.
Me pulling teeth from some poor guy's head. He's looking at me like "are you sure you're qualified to do this?"
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[On the bumpy bus ride home in the jump seat next to the door, feeling like I might topple over backwards]:
I pulled six teeth today. One upper incisor (gold), three more upper incisors (twist-twist), and then there was one gentleman with badly decayed teeth who needed an upper right molar and lower left bicuspid removed (tilt-sway-figure-8). Pretty tough, those last two. That gentleman actually came back later complaining of something stuck in the upper right socket, and I felt pretty ashamed that I had left part of a tooth, until Wayne examined him and clipped part of the bone that was bothering him. With more experience, I should be able to recognize and address such issues initially, but I was relieved I hadn't done the procedure incompletely.
The children today were particularly adorable. They watched us from outside the classroom window and played peek-a-boo when they spotted my camera. It became a bit of a game between us when I would find a spare moment in the examining room; they would try to duck, giggling, as I threatened them with photos.
It may have been the gifts we distributed at the end of the day, but the usually bashful children really opened up. Not only were they letting me take pictures of them, but they began demanding I take more of that one there, or these two together, or us three - especially once they discovered the LCD panel on my camera. I had to pull myself away to get on the van in which I now travel (a hot shower and a good scrubbing sound perfect right now). Although the children spoke mostly only Quiche and I only broken Spanish, we were able to communicate with universal face and hand gestures. I can't wait to get these photos uploaded.
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[At the fancy hotel up the road with the two courtyards and sleeping parrots]:
I just saw a cow go by in the back of a small Toyota pickup.
Next time:
Me pulling teeth from some poor guy's head. He's looking at me like "are you sure you're qualified to do this?"
-
-
[On the bumpy bus ride home in the jump seat next to the door, feeling like I might topple over backwards]:
I pulled six teeth today. One upper incisor (gold), three more upper incisors (twist-twist), and then there was one gentleman with badly decayed teeth who needed an upper right molar and lower left bicuspid removed (tilt-sway-figure-8). Pretty tough, those last two. That gentleman actually came back later complaining of something stuck in the upper right socket, and I felt pretty ashamed that I had left part of a tooth, until Wayne examined him and clipped part of the bone that was bothering him. With more experience, I should be able to recognize and address such issues initially, but I was relieved I hadn't done the procedure incompletely.
The children today were particularly adorable. They watched us from outside the classroom window and played peek-a-boo when they spotted my camera. It became a bit of a game between us when I would find a spare moment in the examining room; they would try to duck, giggling, as I threatened them with photos.
It may have been the gifts we distributed at the end of the day, but the usually bashful children really opened up. Not only were they letting me take pictures of them, but they began demanding I take more of that one there, or these two together, or us three - especially once they discovered the LCD panel on my camera. I had to pull myself away to get on the van in which I now travel (a hot shower and a good scrubbing sound perfect right now). Although the children spoke mostly only Quiche and I only broken Spanish, we were able to communicate with universal face and hand gestures. I can't wait to get these photos uploaded.
-
-
[At the fancy hotel up the road with the two courtyards and sleeping parrots]:
I just saw a cow go by in the back of a small Toyota pickup.
Next time:
posted by Ali at 2/07/2006 05:51:00 PM
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